Welcome to the big leagues

Runoff victory secures place for Nikki Haley on national stage

They call the last player taken in the National Football League draft each year "Mr. Irrelevant."

Change that. It's now Andre Bauer.

The South Carolina lieutenant governor, who came in dead last in the June 8 primary for governor, apparently thinks he's denying Republican nominee Nikki Haley something of value by cattily withholding his support for her in the November general election.

In truth, he may now be the most irrelevant man in South Carolina politics, right below surprise Democratic Senate nominee Alvin Greene.

Note to Andre: Nikki Haley needs you about as much as she needs another Will Folks blog.

Ms. Haley not only won the Republican nomination, and the inside track to the governor's office, by a wide margin on Tuesday -- after nearly beating three guys outright in the June 8 election -- but in the process, she has no doubt become a star on the national stage.

That's because anyone who knows her realizes she is precisely what concerned, conservative voters are looking for this year: a rock-ribbed, fiscally responsible, Constitution-respecting, throw-the-bums-out-along-with-their-nonsense reformer.

And endorsements from Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney didn't hurt.

Nikki Haley is now a player in the big leagues.

Not only can she help bring respectability -- and star power -- back to South Carolina politics, but there may be no one more deliciously fitting to do so: To get the nomination, Ms. Haley had to crawl through foulness no good person should ever have to endure in order to serve her fellow citizens in public office. The South Carolina All-Boys' Club tried every scurrilous trick in the obscene South Carolina Political Playbook to smear this woman. They had no proof, and voters would have none of it.

"South Carolina people are done with this," she said at one debate, regarding a Bauer campaign official who, like blogger Folks, claimed an affair with Haley. "We are done with the dirty politics that has given the state a bad name."

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OK, here's the problem. Remember Sanford. He violated the trust of the People, lied about it, misused government funds, and paid no price. Hailey must be questioned about the complete lack of accountability in that state and asked "Are some people above the laws of the state?" Then ask her about the possible positions she believes that Sanford should hold after leaving office. Expect him to be not far from the Capitol and pulling the strings - we already know he can't be punished.

justus4 you are so wrong. Nikki may share the conservative ideas of Sanford but you forgot one thing. She knows numbers! If the numbers wont work she will know. She is perfect for SC politics. She reflects what the voters want and I am excited to have her in office. November can't get here soon enough.

She's a blank slate on which everyone is projecting their own visions of the perfect candidate. Be careful not to let her quick rise to power seduce you. Remember, she's a politician, not a celebrity. We should treat her or any other candidate with the same scrutiny as if they were applying to work for us.

Andre Bauer along with Jake Knotts, Hugh Leatherman, Bobby Harrell and the rest of the big spending, corrupt Republican politicians in the SC statehouse will most likely vote and may even publically support Democratic nominee Vincent Sheheen. They don't want anybody who may try to force all of their votes to be on the record or derail part of their taxpayer gravytrain. Most Republicans are just as disgraceful as Democrats when it comes to fiscal responsibility.

Bauer messed up when he tried so desperately to shine on Sanford negatively in the media, that hurt him. Then he had Knotts as a supporter to say racial words against her to which if I'm not mistaken, Bauer never spoke out against or distanced himself from him. I hope she wins and if she does, she should send Knotts a rag for his head along with a thank you note. PORKLY self.

Bauer messed up when he tried so desperately to shine on Sanford negatively in the media, and that hurt him. Then he had Knotts as a supporter to say racial words against her, and Bauer never spoke out against or distanced himself from him.

You can also bet that Bauer was responsible for one or both of the men who made the sexual innuendos against Haley.

"Unfortunately, yes. Illegal immigrants are above the laws of the state. The Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency do not do their duties and the state is powerless to overcome the unwillingness of those federal agencies."

grouse is right. How could a young African-American man with strange origins, suspicious funding, shady associations, no experience, no qualifications, and no demonstrable work history come out of nowhere and win an election? satire as well.

I do believe I told you guys when the charges came out against Haley that it didn't matter. Sandford could have survied his escapade if he had acted like Al Gore or any other Democrat and simply said he and his wife needed space or some other feel good term. Instead Sanford said he was going to hike the Appalachian Trail alone.

"She's a blank slate on which everyone is projecting their own visions of the perfect candidate. Be careful not to let her quick rise to power seduce you. Remember, she's a politician, not a celebrity. We should treat her or any other candidate with the same scrutiny as if they were applying to work for us."

Why don't we just cancel the November election and anoint the Republican nominees to their respective offices? The Republicans have been running the state for several years now, and look at what great condition South Carolina is in. In fact, let's outlaw the Democratic Party in SC and make SC a one-party state - it worked really well over in the Former Soviet Union.

respectability? the woman is a slut, we know she has slept with at least two other men, while married, how many more to come? do we need another self proclaimed righteous right wing fascist like sanford? these people have humiliated our state enough,